Takaki's Journey Through the Afterlife
by TOMPSE
Summary: Takaki wakes up in the Angel Beats purgatory and is greeted by Yuzuru and his advisor, Shinohara


**AN: I know I said there would be a part II, but I've been having problems writing it. It is still coming, but it will take a while. Thank you for those who commented on my story, as I was seriously considering deleting it. Thank you for reading it.**

 **For new readers, I hope you enjoy this story, it is the first story where I've completely written everything I've wanted to. Although I have many ideas and not much progress for part II, I hope to get it out soon.**

Part One: Takaki's Journey Through the Afterlife

Prologue

The falling of peach petals passed by a quiet hospital on a space focused island. Takaki, a dying old man watched the petals silently from his position on a hospital bed, where he would soon die. He watched the petals fall at the now infamous 5 centimeters per second.

"Rain falls at 5 meters per second. Petals fall at 5 centimeters per second, clouds fall at 1 centimeter per second," he repeated aloud.

His family, who had been watching quietly, listened to his rambling. He turned to them. His mouth opened and closed. He knew his time was just about up. He looked at his sons and remembered Risa. She had died 7 years ago, as he was about to now.

"I've hurt so many people. I'm glad you stuck around Risa. You've given me two wonderful sons," Takaki spoke, hoping her spirit could still hear him.

"Before you go, dad, please. Tell us about your first love, you haven't even told mother," the eldest spoke.

"We met in 4th grade, if I remember correctly. She was a new transfer student, like I was. She was reaching for a book and I got her a stool. We talked for a long time about the books there, and we walked together a lot. Some of the students noticed and began to tease us. We always walked together, they were good memories," Takaki said. The younger son looked at him and said:

"What happened between you two?" he questioned.

"She moved away, and after a year or so, I moved further," Takaki answered. The room moved into silence. Minutes passed. Takaki felt his side going numb. Takaki knew his time was up.

"It's time for me to go, I'll love you all, goodbye," Takaki spoke. His eyes closed and his heart stopped. Takaki Tono died on March 12, 3:48 at the ripe old age of 98.

Takaki was in a classroom. He stared forward, obviously puzzled. Ahead he saw aboard, and a man wrote scratching chalk onto its surface. His voice was an inaudible jumble of words that seemed to have become clearer as Takaki focused. The sound meshed into the noise of the classroom. His vision had become focused, and nearby him, he could hear a student sharpening his pencil, then two girls talking about another pier. His attention shifted again, and he stared at a student erasing a paper. What? Where - When Am I?

He glanced down at himself. He was in his school uniform. He recognized it from nearly 75 years ago. In his hand, he held a pencil. He read the words on his paper and started to understand. He was in his calculus class. It was so long ago that he couldn't remember what any of it meant. He set his gaze forward and began to think. He couldn't seem to remember anything as he scanned the room. He was a fish out of the water, and there was one thing he could do now, and that was to sit still and pretend to listen. So he did, for two hours. Afterward, when class ended, he made his way to the principal.

The students went to their clubs, while Takaki walked towards the principal's office. Throughout the day, Takaki had begun to become very confused. The students would always give simple responses with little emotion and the teachers didn't appear to care. These thoughts went through Takaki's mind as he walked the long hallways of the school. The windows showed the track field and baseball diamond outside. The other students were already on the field. He eventually saw the Principal sign placed high on the doorframe. He went to open the door, and heard a scraping, then a creaking noise. He turned his head towards the noise, and was greeted with a giant metal cylinder swinging onto him.

"WHAT THE H-" Takaki didn't finish as the metal mass smashed into him and drove him out the side of the school.

Takaki woke up in a hospital bed. He studied the room. What happened? There was a curtain around his space, and the floor appeared plain and unused. He slowly sat up, and then it came back to him, the reason why he was here.

He began to grumble, "Ugh, What? What the heck?" Takaki felt his chest. It was undamaged, with some bandages on it. Based on what he felt as he got hit, he should've had at least some broken ribs. His steady stream of questions in his mind broke when the door opened Two people in a conversation entered through the now open door.

The first of the two spoke, "I told you we should disable that trap, It's probably his first day and he's already died!" He was a young man who appeared to be in his early 20s with striking orange hair, and seemingly muted red eyes.

"I'm dead?" Takaki inquired.

"We all are. Welcome to the afterlife. Where you get hit by a giant piece of metal when looking for an explanation on why you're here," said the man, offering a hand. "My name is Yuzuru Otonashi, student council president, call me Yuzuru, and this is my advisor, Shinohara. Nice to meet you."

"Takaki Tono, nice to meet you, I suppose," Takaki said, shaking the outstretched hand. Takaki observed the other person in the room. She looked to be in her early 20s, with mid-back length hair and a slim build. She had not said anything, and seemed as if she was trying to hide in the background. She seemed familiar in away. Yuzuru seemed faintly amused.

"Checking out my advisor?" he quipped.

"N-no! It's just, well, she hasn't said anything this whole time," Takaki stammered.

"She's just shy," Yuzuru said, "anyway, you should come with me. I'll explain this all"

"Alright," Takaki said, getting up and following him. I guess I'm about to see what being dead is like. He thought.

Yuzuru began to speak, "You see Takaki, we are in the afterlife. This is a sort of passing ground before you move on." Puzzled, Takaki closed an eye and scratched his head. "I don't understand. Why am I here?" Takaki questioned. "Well," Yuzuru began, "It's not that simple. Not everyone has the same reason. We are here to understand ourselves -" "I think I know myself fairly well," Interrupted Kakaki. "Good, then it should be easy to figure out what you regret," Replied Yuzuru.

"So what you're saying is, I've died with a regret, and I'm here to put it behind me and experience happiness, but I can't even remember my past? And in addition, most of the people here are programmed bots?" Takaki added.

"You're very perceptive, Tono. (Authors note: In Japan, calling someone by their first name is considered rude when not on close terms, so Yuzuru and Shinohara will call Takaki "Tono"). Not many people understand this so quickly, Shinohara was a bit slow. Hehe." Yuzuru said, scratching his neck. Both of them hadn't even seen her behind them.

Shinohara was watching silently by the door. I can't shake the feeling that I know him from somewhere. She thought.

"Hello? Shino? You there?" Yuzuru was waving his hand in her face. Shinohara snapped out of her trance and quickly replied

"Y-yes?" she said.

"We're going to the lunchroom, you coming?" Yuzuru replied, exasperated.

"Oh, yes," Shinohara said with little mind to the situation. As the trio walked through the hallways, her mind wandering around Tono. Something about him just, "clicked" in her mind. She hadn't recovered memories about her past in her time in the afterlife yet, but she couldn't shake the thought that he was from her past. The trio reached the cafeteria and split up. Shinohara sat on the upper level one row away from the windows, and close to the stairs. Yuzuru and Takaki had also taken a seat on the upper level, but placed near the kitchen, a few rows away from where Shinohara was sitting. The sun's rays illuminated the cafeteria and emanated a warm glow from the backs of soulless students. Shinohara ate her food while her mind still remained on Tono.

"How's the food?" Yuzuru asked Tono after they had eaten for a few minutes.

"It's pretty good!" Takaki said, happily eating his yakisoba. "Say, why are you eating Mapo tofu? I heard it's super spicy."

Yuzuru's expression darkened. The lunchroom around them seemed to grow darker around them, the cheerful atmosphere gone. Yuzuru lowered his head and his shoulders sagged. Takaki knew he made a mistake. He opened his mouth to apologize, but before he could, Yuzuru spoke.

"I had a close friend who loved to eat this. She used to eat it almost every day before she left," Yuzuru said. As he spoke, his voice slightly broke. Little streaks of water glimmered in the sunlight on his new friend's face. She definitely wasn't just a close friend.

He tried to say something to comfort him, but realized that he had no idea what to say. He remembered something from his past. It was like seeing through someone else's eyes. He saw himself on a phone. Through this person's eyes, he saw himself sitting, back against the shoji that divided the rooms of his house. The light of the nearby lamp bled through, forming highlights on his back. A yellow glow surrounded the back of his brown hair as he spoke into the phone, but stopped. His voice faded and he only remembered a feeling of emptiness. This person wanted to help, but he couldn't provide it. Why couldn't he? He just looked down and merely thought, "I am sorry". The vision cut off and the saddened Yuzuru came into view again.

"She was only here to thank me for something I did in our previous lives," Yuzuru said, "but when she did, she disappeared, right in my arms."

"Why didn't you follow her?" Takaki said.

"I-I made a vow that I would help souls who wander here pass on," Yuzuru said, his voice still shaky. Takaki wondered why he would do that. From his day here, he didn't meet any other humans, so it seemed unlikely that Yuzuru would need to stay behind to help them move on, and furthermore, it seemed unlikely that it was necessary to help them move on anyway, this afterlife seemed like a great place to be, and he was sure people here could move on easily.

"I'm not sure this is my place to talk, but doesn't it seem unnecessary to help people move? It sounds like it's a fine place, and I haven't seen any other humans around," Takaki said, not realizing he was poking into a sensitive subject. Fortunately for him, Yuzuru kept talking.

"When I first came here, I was greeted by a faction who was unsatisfied with their previous lives and refused to move on, as a deliberate act to defy god. Their worst enemy was the previous student council president, who tried to help them move on. The problem was that her personality was very, muted, let's say," Yuzuru explained with a slight laugh at the end, "anyway, I joined them early on, believing that the previous president, whom they named "Angel," was a bad person. This didn't stop me from talking to her and befriending her. In the end, she and the faction came to understand each other, and after a while, they all moved on. Except me."

"Wow, it must be hard to stay here, where you'll probably never see them again. Why don't you just move on?" Takaki inquired.

"I made a vow, one I can't easily break. Besides, they only left a month or two ago," Yuzuru said. Takaki felt the irony hit hard. Yuzuru made friends with his big heart. He helped them with his big heart. But in the end, he was kept here, alone, because of that big heart. The rest of the lunch period went by in silence, with Shinohara watching from the side.

It had been a few weeks since Takaki arrived in the afterlife. A few new people came and went, some staying, with Yuzuru trying to help them move on. Takaki couldn't help but wonder why Shinohara was still here. He had yet to gain any of his memories back, and he did his best to enjoy school life. One day, Yuzuru stopped by, asking if he could help. They tried a few memory jogging exercises, which proved futile, and he had muttered something like "If only Ayato was still here." Takaki's focus went back to the fields, where he saw a soccer game going. It looked very telegraphed, with the players using mostly the same moves, but it was still interesting. A few minutes passed, and Takaki saw a player pull a very specific move. The player skipped slightly as the ball approached, drawing his foot back in the same moment, then, smashed the ball with his toe as he landed. The ball cut through the air, a projectile perfectly locked into its target. The ball then passed through the net and scored. This triggered a jumble of images for Takaki.

He was on the soccer field with his team. His perspective was once again that of a spectator, watching his younger self. Takaki was in his uniform, which was a simple pair of shorts with a sign on the side and stripes on his sleeves. He had just finished the warm-up sprint and the coach ordered them to ready themselves. He and his friends walked to the middle of the field.

"Aw man, I didn't sign up for this. Our soccer team isn't even that good, is it?" A boy with a rounded face and superior skills than all of them said. The boy closer to his left, turned to Takaki and explained.

"Yoshino's pretty good. Already treated like a junior."

"Hey, he got in for this," someone he couldn't see said to his right, but coming into view "But you played too, right, Tono? Kids' soccer, I mean."

Takaki saw himself turning to the boy while picking up cones. He responded calmly.

"Huh? No, I didn't."

"Really?" the one who was better than them said. "You kinda look like the soccer type,"

"I've never played. I joined to get tougher," Takaki told them.

"You're kidding right?" they all said to him. What was I actually thinking?

Takaki was still in thought and didn't realize he wasn't alone in the roof. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shinohara go to the railing next to him. She joined him in leaning on it and gazed out into the field. He stared curiously, but quickly averted his eyes when Shinohara turned her head his way.

"Yuzuru's looking for you. There's a new arrival, he said he wants you to help with this," Shinohara said shyly.

"Alright, let's go," Takaki said. Shinohara led the way to Yuzuru. They caught a snippet of the conversation as they walked towards the room

"I don't think that's going to be an easy thing to do, We're not doing very well with resources. You said you just want to leave this world behind right?"  
"I've been here for about a month, and I hate it. There's nothing to do, I have no friends, and everyone here is just so, dead,"

"There is one thing we could do, w-" Yuzuru said before he saw them enter.

"And these are my 2 advisors, Tono and Shinohara,"

"Hello, my name is Takaki Tono, nice to meet you" Takaki greeted. Takaki noted that Shinohara didn't say her name, same with him, so he put it under shyness.

"Hello, the name's Arata Shou, nice to meet you two, call me Arata," said the other person in the room, he was medium-sized, with a slightly hunched posture, with yellow hair that flowed around his head like a mop, and piercing red eyes. He shot Takaki a knowing smile, something that struck him as odd.

"Wait, you can remember your past?" Takaki questioned.

"Y-yes? Am I not supposed to?" Shou replied. Takaki and Shinohara exchanged glances and glared at Yuzuru. Yuzuru shrunk back in his seat slowly. Arata seemed to be extremely amused by the situation.

Yuzuru composed himself and was all business again.  
"Aaaaanyway, I need you two to hang out with him for a while," Yuzuru said. "I have to think about something."

Takaki and Shinohara were tasked with hanging out with Arata. The only problem with this is there wasn't much to talk about. There weren't many places to show Arata that he didn't know of, with him already spending a month here. Together, the three walked through the hallways of the school. Time dragged its small arms on the watch on his hand as they passed the classroom after classroom. With nothing to do, the gang debated on whether or not to go back to Yuzuru, but Arata was against it. He said Yuzuru and he spoke on a very sensitive topic and that Yuzuru was probably busy with it. Lunchtime arrived eventually. The three sat together and regarded each other awkwardly.

"Alright, it's been 3 hours and all we've done is wander the school awkwardly," Takaki broke the silence. Arata nodded in agreement, Shinohara peered out the window, seemingly ignoring them both.

"You like someone, don't you," Arata said out of the blue. Takaki immediately said no, while Shinohara remained indifferent, although Takaki could've sworn he saw her twitch a bit as he said it.

"You're acting very suspicious, Shinohara," Arata said. His mouth twisted into a mischievous grin He verbally jabbed her again, "You like someone, don't you. Who is it? Yuzuru or Takaki."

Takaki wanted to stop him, but he was genuinely curious. Shinohara, hunched over, hair covered her face.

"I-I d-d-don't like anyone," Shinohara stuttered. She was acting very out of character. Shinohara was usually silent and hard to notice, but now she was a stuttering mess. Takaki grabbed one of her hands, trying to console her. She jumped and slowly turned her head towards him. He saw a crimson hue covering her face and widened eyes. Their eyes met and Takaki smiled.

"Something wrong?" He said politely. Arata, who was watching in the background, was desperately trying not to laugh.

"They're perfect for each other," he said, smiling normally.

Later that night, Shinohara arrived back at her dormitory. She collapsed on her bed, and before long Shinohara's mind began swirling around Takaki again, and she found herself thinking about him constantly. She knew she was connected to him in some way, she just didn't know how. Every time she would see him in the hallway, he would smile, and kindly wave. She would find herself oddly unnerved, and she would pass by him with a warmth on her face and a stirring feeling in her insides. Curse you Yuzuru, why do you have to make me follow him around. She really did not enjoy her day. Every time she got near Takaki, she fell apart again. And every time that happened, Arata would smirk and give her the most infuriating look in the world. His face had an uncanny resemblance to that of a deranged goat. Stupid goat Arata. Strangely alluring Takaki. Shinohara fell asleep with a grin on her face.

Yuzuru was sitting at his desk, thinking hard. "Arata, you really are something else," he thought silently. When he talked to Arata last week, he found his backstory was a lot more depressing than the others he'd heard. Previously, the worst one he'd known was Yuri's, one where she lost her siblings and felt responsible for it. Arata's was on a different level. The son of an abusive mother, he was bullied his whole life, and his only friend was his brother. He had a strong sense of heroism and justice, and still believed in the good of others. His life had ended when his family was attacked. He did his best to defend them. The robbers relentlessly beat him, and killed his family before his eyes, before leaving him with their bodies. He remembered Arata's words very well.

I was weak. I couldn't protect the ones I loved. I looked at my mother and brother as they bled out in front of me. My mother looked at me, and even in her final moments refused me. She told me that I was useless. She told me I couldn't amount to anything, and that I shouldn't have been born. It was my fault. I couldn't defend my mother or my brother, and I lived my life in depression, before I took my own life. My regret in life was never being useful or needed for anyone.

It tugged at Yuzuru's heartstrings, he hadn't felt this way in a long time. The last person who made him feel this sorry was….

"Kanade," Yuzuru said aloud, slipping into the hole in his heart again. He pulled himself out and reminded himself that he was here and he had a job to do. He put his mind back to the task at hand. He had to help Takaki, Shinohara, and Arata move on. This was a problem, as the first two had no memories of their past. Arata just needed to be shown the love he had never gotten. Yuzuru's current plan was to bring his poor advisors together, as he and Arata had been plotting for a long time. And after they left, he was sure Arata could leave. That would leave him alone again. Yuzuru paused.

I don't want to be alone Yuzuru realized. He remembered the intense loneliness he felt after they all left. That crushing feeling was terrible. It made him want to leave this world and desperately chase after them. That's when Shinohara arrived and he remembered that he still had a job to do. I'm sorry everyone. I guess I'm stuck in this job for all eternity.

Arata woke up slowly. His dorm came into view around him as he opened his eyes. It was relatively small and empty, a box shape. The room was only occupied by a bookshelf and desk in the opposite corner as his bed. He got up from his bed, took a shower, and brushed his teeth. Arata wondered what he would do today. He made it his mission in the afterlife to bring Shinohara and Takaki together. But Christ's sake. Takaki was so damn dense. Shinohara's shyness wasn't something that helped either. In general, he and Yuzuru had their work cut out for them. He exited his dorm and began to walk to school. He crossed the hallway to get to the stairs, and he heard a crashing noise, and a loud yell.

"That's odd, I didn't think NPCs can even raise their voices," Arata said aloud. He walked over to the room and opened the door. A young boy was huddled under the chair in the room that had fallen over him. He ran over and lifted the chair off of the boy.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Y-yes. Thank you, mister! I have a question. Where am I? Why does your hair look like a banana peel? Why am I in this room? What time is it? Is it almost cookie time?" the boy started bombarding Arata with questions.

"Whoa, slow down there," Arata said. "My name is Arata Shou, my hair does not look like a banana, and you're…" he trailed off. How am I supposed to tell him that he's dead? He's so young. "In a daycare!"

"Why am I in a daycare? I don't remember Mommy bringing me here, this doesn't look like my daycare, and when is cookie time?" the boy asked again.

"Ok, how about, I give you a cookie, and you can tell me about yourself," Arata said.

"Okay!" the boy seemed to perk up. "Where is the cookie?"

"Follow me, we're going to the lunch line to get some," Arata said. "What's your favorite kind of cookie?"

"Chocolate chip! And wait. DID YOU SAY WE'RE HAVING MORE THAN ONE?" The boy said loudly.

"Calm down. And you only get cookies if you tell me about yourself, remember?" Arata said.

"OK! My name is Haru Ren! I live with mommy and daddy in Iwafune! They love me lots and give me cookies and take me to the park every day!" Haru said. He continued bouncing happily and telling Arata his life story.

"Mommy takes me to daycare every day. After daycare, she takes me home and I get a cookie if a behave good, she says no cookies for little troublemakers which I is not. She took me to daycare yesterday, and I was dancing along the road, and I saw a bright light and woke up here!" Haru said happily. Arata thought to himself silently.

This kid. He doesn't even know he's dead and he trusts me so blindly. I hope Takaki can handle him, I certainly can't.

They eventually reached the cafeteria and Arata bought Haru some cookies. He munched them happily, leaving a mess everywhere. Arata watched the little monster devour his cookies and then burp loudly.

"Stay here, I'll be right back," Arata said, dropping more cookies on his plate. He dashed over to the council room, hoping that his friends would be there. He reached the main building and dashed up the stairs. He found Takaki walking around absentmindedly around the halls and practically jumped him.

"Whoa! Arata? What are you doing?" Takaki asked, bewildered.

"WHERE ARE YUZURU AND SHINOHARA?" Arata yelled.

"In the council room, why?" Takaki said.

"Just, go to the cafeteria, I'll be there soon," Arata said over his shoulder as he dashed down the hall.

"Ok then…" Takaki said as he headed for the cafeteria.

"So you're telling me that you saw this kid in your dorms and brought him here?" Yuzuru said.

"Yep," Arata said.

"Strange, I've never seen a young boy here, we generally see teenagers-young adults here," Yuzuru said. Takaki was playing with the child, and Shinohara was watching him.

"Who's that behind you?" Haru asked Takaki.

"Oh her? Her name's Shinohara," Takaki responded.

"Just Shinohara? Don't most people have a first name and last name? Is she weird? Also, She's been staring at you the whole time." Haru said.

"She was?" Takaki turned his head to look at Shinohara. She looked away and was clearly blushing.

"I was not," she said.

"Yes, you were. Why were you staring at him, do you like him? You're weird" Haru said.

Shinohara's blush visually darkened. Arata was busy laughing his butts off, while Takaki was watching, clearly confused. Yuzuru was amused, and after a while of teasing from Haru, laughing from Arata, and confusion from Takaki, he decided to change the subject to save Shinohara.

"Come to think of it, you never told us your full name. What is it?" Yuzuru said.

"My full name is Akari Shinohara," she managed to stutter out. Those words caused a pang in Takaki's mind. That name. It sounds oddly familiar. I feel like I've heard it from somewhere before. He was sent into another flashback. This time it was about him and a girl at a cherry tree. They were looking at the tree from behind a wall, where the branches grew up and over. The blossoms were falling around them as he and the girl looked up at the tree.

"Amazing cherry blossoms, and a library full of books I'd like to read. Now I've found two good spots," the girl said, turning to look him in the eye. Together, they began walking to a temple?

"Hello? Takaki? Are you there?" Takaki snapped out of his memories and saw Yuzuru waving a hand in his face. "I just remembered something."

"Really? Now we're making some progress! But either way, I need you and Shinohara to take care of Haru," he said.

"Why me?" Takaki said.

"Because, you're the kindest out of all of us, and I need to sort things out with Arata. Seeya!" he said, walking off. This left him, Shinohara, and Haru alone in the cafeteria, with Haru bouncing around Shinohara while bombarding her with questions.

"Hey, Shinohara?" Shinohara turned her head to Takaki, a light blush on her face. "Can I call you Akari?"

"O-kay," She stuttered.

"Alright, Akari," Takaki said, trying out the word. He noticed Akari's blush darken and she seemed to shrink back more. Takaki felt his face redden and the two fell into an uncomfortable silence.

"Are you sure you don't like him, Shinohara?" Haru said suddenly. Akari at this point began to die of embarrassment and quickly got up and ran away. "Dude, she totally likes you."

"Does she?" Takaki asked.

"Oh my god yes she likes you. My mom does that whenever dad gets really close to her. And my Sister does that with the guy she likes," Haru said back.

Oh My God. How does a 4-year-old know more about romance than me. Takaki thought about it hard, but he still wasn't sure.

"Do you like her?" Haru asked.

"I'm not sure," Takaki said back.

"How can you be 'not sure?'" Haru said.

"I just. Don't know. My feelings are a mess and I'm not sure what I think," Takaki replied.

"My mom said to imagine that you two are holding hands, and if you can easily imagine it, you like her," Haru explained.

Takaki tried to imagine it. He visualized him and Akari holding hands. Surprisingly, it was very easy. He could easily think of the warmth of her hand in his, and he could almost feel it as he thought about it. Then, it hit him. And it hit like a bombshell. I… Like Akari.

"I'm bored, can I see the baseball players?" Haru said.

"Ok, sounds good champ!" Takaki said, saving the matter for later.

Yuzuru was in his dorm room, idly laying on his bed. He wasn't doing anything, just looking up at the ceiling. Just then, his door began to be beaten rapidly. He walked over to the door and opened it. He saw an out of breath Takaki who looked like he had run a very far distance to see him. He opened his mouth but was cut off

"I LIKE AKARI SHINOHARA," Takaki yelled. Yuzuru grinned. About time.

Arata was using the computer in his room. The internet was empty, as expected of an afterlife with only 4 people frequenting it. He couldn't find anything, so he was just playing Solitaire. After a few minutes, Arata got bored and decided to search up SOS for fun. The searches came up empty, but the correction line said "Did you mean "SSS?" Arata was bored, so he clicked on it. Oddly, the was a website under the searches, and it read: "SSS group activities and planning document," Arata entered the website, and found a very organized program, with a list of members, an old agenda, and a group chat. He looked through the agenda, seeing that the last edit was 5 months ago. It read,

"Operation complete: Farewell SSS." it was posted by Yuzuru, and there was a picture posted under it. He looked at it, and he saw a picture of what he guessed was the SSS. He guessed there were about 20 people in the picture, all of which looked so, human. He spotted Yuzuru near the bottom left, with a green-haired man holding his arm, and Yuzuru with his hand on the girl next to him's hands. This must be his old friends, the ones he never talks about. Arata looked through the group chat. It looked like they were all good friends, they all talked and bantered like real friends. No wonder Yuzuru's secretly so depressed. If I lost all my friends like this, I'd be sad too. All right! I'm gonna help Otonashi find his way back to them. Especially the white-haired girl.

Akari was out on the field watching the soccer players play. She had been there for quite some time, she had a lot on her mind. She thought back to Haru, and how he kept up with accusations that she liked Takaki. He's wrong. She thought. He's wrong. He's wrong. He's wrong. She kept repeating. But something in her heart told her she was lying to herself. She thought back to the weeks she spent with him. He always was so kind. He would always slow his pace to match hers, and look at her as if she was the only thing in his world. When she would hide in the corner, he would bring her out again. Maybe. Maybe I do like him. I do like him. And I'll never tell him.

Haru was wandering around the halls. He felt lonely. Everyone was so tall. Whenever he would ask them anything, they would just respond the same way. Takaki visited regularly, and he always came with cookies. Takaki was nice. He would always take him to an interesting new place, One day, he took him to the river. Another day, he took him to the library. He showed him where he and the others would meet up. Haru didn't do much at his daycare. He normally slept and wandered around the school. One day, he asked Mister Yuzuru if there was a world outside of the school. He said there was a scary place under the school, but there wasn't anything beyond the school grounds, besides the river. He wanted to go home. He wanted to. Takaki was nice, Yuzuru was awkward, Akari was always flustered, and Arata was kind of in the middle, but even with all of them, he still wanted to go see mommy again. He wanted to see mommy and daddy and watch Spongebob with them. Yuzuru and Takaki always said that if he enjoyed it here, he could go back to them. So he did his best to enjoy it here. And so, he thought to himself, maybe staying here with Takaki and the others was worth it. Mommy always said that he could do anything, and if he was supposed to enjoy this daycare, he would.

Yuzuru was at his desk again. He thought about what to do. Takaki had finally realized that he was in love with Shinohara. And he would do his best to help them move on with their relationship, and into their new lives. He wondered how to do that, and while he did, Arata came in.

"Hey," Yuzuru said.

"Yo," Arata replied. "I was on the computer, and I searched up the SSS."

Yuzuru stopped.  
"You did?" what did you find? Yuzuru replied, shocked.

"I found the group's website. Can you tell me about them?" Arata said. He showed the picture of the SSS that Yuzuru had posted on the group website after everyone had left. Arata must've sensed his hesitation, and he looked dead serious, which wasn't normal for Arata.

"Get Takaki and Shinohara. Not Haru. He doesn't need to know about this," Yuzuru confided. He waited in the room, thinking about how to say it. A few minutes later, Arata came back with Takaki and Shinohara. They sat down, and Yuzuru began immediately.

"When I first got here, I was met with 2 members of the group." Yuzuru pointed to a blue-haired man getting tackled by a pink-haired girl in the photo, and then pointed to a crimson-haired woman with a green hair tie. "They told me that I was dead, and that I should join their group so I wouldn't get obliterated. They told me they're sworn enemy was someone named angel." He pointed to the white-haired girl in the photo.

"Of course, I didn't believe them, and I went to talk to her. She told me that I am indeed dead, and when I asked her to prove it, she stabbed me in the chest," Yuzuru continued, "I woke up in the infirmary, and got attacked by one of the SSS's supporters. I went to the principal's office for information, and I got hit by the trap that I'm sure all of you know about." Everyone in the room collectively winced.

"After I woke up again, I joined them on their quest against angel. I discovered that the SSS was just a band of people who didn't want to move on because of their previous lives. After a while of fighting, I decided to go talk to Angel. It turned out that she wasn't a heartless being trying to obliterate them, but a human who was trying to help them. I managed to convince the SSS that she was a member to be trusted, and we went fishing together. Later, shadows started to appear that attacked us. After defeating them, all of the SSS moved on, until it was just me and angel. In our final moments, I told her I loved her, and I asked her to stay with me and help people move on, so they wouldn't be vengeful and stuck here, like the original SSS. She told me that she loved me, and since her wish was to thank me for something I did in our previous lives, she moved on, and I stayed behind." Yuzuru reached the end of his story, tears pouring down his face. He bowed his head and wiped his tears. He felt a hand on his shoulder. Then another, and another. He looked up and saw Takaki, Shinohara, and Arata with their hands on his shoulder.

"It's ok, you can go to them," Takaki said.

"B-but I made a vow to stay here and help people move on," Yuzuru said.

"It's not good to vow on something that will destroy you. Come on. Everyone in the SSS is waiting for you on the other side. You want to have another life with angel right? Why do you insist on leaving yourself here, and hurting both of you?" Akari spoke. Yuzuru went silent and thought about what Shinohara was saying. He realized he was being a hypocrite.

"You're right. It's selfish for me to stay here. BUT. I'm not leaving 'till all of you are gone," Yuzuru said.

"Will do student council president!" all three said at once. Yuzuru smiled. Thank you all. Wait for me Kanade. I'm coming.

Takaki was visiting Haru again. He came with his usual batch of cookies. He opened the door to Haru's room, to see Haru crying into his pillow.

"What's wrong?" Takaki said, rushing to his side.

"I miss Mommy, I want to see her and leave this place!" he bawled. That went deep into Takaki's heart. This was cruel. How could the world do this to such a young kid?

"Is there anything in you really, really want to do?" Takaki asked him.

"I want to coolest superhero of all time!" Haru said. I want to fly across the sky like a bird! Takaki hesitated. How am I supposed to make him fly?!

"Come on. I'm sure Yuzuru can do something," he said, picking up Haru and putting him on his shoulders.

"Yea!" he said.

Takaki walked the halls of the school, finding Yuzuru and Akari talking about something in the main room. When he entered, Akari jumped backward with a yelp and Yuzuru smiled.

"What can I help you with?" he said.

"Do you have something that can make Haru fly?" Takaki said, putting Haru down.

"Why does he need to fly? Yuzuru asked. Takaki whispered why into Yuzuru's ear.

"All right! Do you wanna fly like a superhero?" Yuzuru said to Haru.

"YES! I WANNA FLY LIKE A BIRD. I WANNA SEE THE EARTH WHEN IM A HUNDRED METERS UP! I WANNA FALL LIKE RAIN!" Haru yelled.

"All right, let's go," Yuzuru said, ruffling Haru's hair. He gestured Takaki and Shinohara to get Arata and wait on the field. He's going to be amazing.

Takaki, Akari, and Arata were waiting on the field. Takaki and Akari kept stealing glances at each other, and Arata looked at them both mischievously.

"Don't get too mushy, I'm standing right here," he quipped.

"It's not like that!" Takaki and Akari said in unison. Arata threw back his head and laughed wholeheartedly. Takaki and Akari stepped away from each other, a crimson hue present on either's cheeks. Oh man, they really are perfect for each other. Arata mused. Just then, he noticed Yuzuru come up to them.

"Where's the 'Silver Crow?'" Arata joked.

"What's the Silver Crow?" Yuzuru asked. "And if you're wondering, Haru's gonna show up any time soon."

They waited. And waited.

"Hey, are you sure he's coming? Woah!" Takaki yelped, as he ducked from an abrupt whooshing noise and looked up. Haru had a pair of white wings on his back, and he was flying!

"Amazing," Akari said.

"The little rascal really did it," Arata said. The three watched as Haru delightedly flipped and somersaulted through the air. He finally came to land, crying. The three ran to him and Takaki swept him up into a hug.

"You did it! You flew!" he said.

"YEA I DID! DID I LOOK LIKE A BIRD FLYING THROUGH THE AIR?" Haru said happily.

"The most graceful bird I've ever seen. Come on. We're going to eat a million cookies together," Takaki said to Haru. Haru didn't say anything. He looked around at all of them.

"Thank you so much misters and misses! I can't wait to tell mommy!" Haru said. He hugged Takaki back and said his final words. "I hope you can move on too."

"Will do," Takaki said, but realized there was no weight in his arms anymore. With tears in his eyes, he said to the air that was once Haru. "Goodbye Haru."

Takaki walked down the halls of the afterlife school. Without Haru around, he couldn't help but feel like the school became a lot less interesting, and that the underlying feeling of happiness diminished. It had been a few weeks, and he had distanced himself from everyone, and felt like he couldn't eat, or sleep. He walked over to the council room and found Yuzuru waiting for him at the door.

"We need to talk," Yuzuru said, straight to the point.

He gestured for Takaki to sit down and went over to his seat in front of the projector. Takaki felt his withering glare, coiling from its pressure. "You need to get over Haru. We all miss him, but we can't stay on his loss forever, or we'll never move on, and we'll be denying his final will."

Takaki's head came down on the desk. He knew he was denying his will, but he had lost himself in grief, and could not think rationally. "I'm sorry, I am. But I can't," he said, his face twisting.

"It's ok. I felt this way too, but I needed to move on. I needed to realize that I had people who needed me. Come back Takaki, We need your kindness. Especially Shinohara," Yuzuru said, his caring personality coming out and enveloping Takaki with its' warmth. "Takaki, all the people need you here, you hold us together."

Takaki felt his tears returning. This time it wasn't in grief, but happiness. He sat up, and went over to Yuzuru and gave him a huge bearhug.

"I didn't know you learned that way," Yuzuru teased.

"You know I like Akari," he joked back. And that's my next job, Yuzuru thought.

Arata kept his research on the SSS going. At this point, he could relate the names to the people, like Matsushita the fifth being the thick one with broad shoulders, TK being the breakdancer, and Takamatsu being the buff one. He also learned that the SSS was a group of over 200 people, but the 20 in the picture were the ones closest to Yuri, the leader of the entire group. He also found it very amusing that the SSS had over 80 previous names. Looking back to the picture, he wasn't shocked that Yuzuru managed to turn two enemies of the SSS into friends, Angel and Ayato. You really are amazing, Yuzuru Otonashi. He managed to make them into good friends. He felt a pang of jealousy at his president's achievements. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on his door. It was Yuzuru. Speak of the devil.

"Interesting research subject…" Yuzuru politely understated, immediately losing his composure. His shoulders slumped and he looked depressed.

"Stay with me Otonashi. What did you need to talk about?" Arata said.

"R-right," Yuzuru said, standing tall again. "We're going to try to hook Shinohara and Takaki up."

"Where has Shinohara been?" Arata said. Now that he thought about it, He hadn't seen the shy person in a while, a bit after Takaki started to act depressed. Yuzuru put his hand on his neck.

"Well, we first need to find her," Yuzuru said. They looked through the school and it's dorms and found she wasn't even in her dorms, and it looked like she hadn't been there in a while. They really have to make this as hard as possible, they both thought in unison.

Shinohara was in the mountains behind the school. It had been 4 days since she started climbing, and because of her knack of exploration, and her need to be alone to think. She overlooked the school and its fields. It was a beautiful view, from over the forested mountain to the large school, and the bridge and river past it. I wish I could show Takaki. She thought. She felt bad when Takaki had retreated into his shell, it was as if she had lost her reason to be happy, and she found herself retreating further into the background again. Here on the mountaintop, she felt like she was at peace, and at the same time at war with herself. She knew that she felt one way, but couldn't bring herself to tell him. And during her indifference on her feelings, he saved a boy, and after that became depressed. Shinohara felt like he had left her, and with that, another memory came to her.

Last night, I had a dream. Akari was looking through a box labeled "Memories" and at the top, there was a letter. In the letter, she could see that she had written on it, but she couldn't make out what it said.

"You must have felt so forlorn. Did you think I'd gone home? Where you hoping I had? You were kind like that. But I could have waited all night. Because I knew you would come. I really… I was able to make it into a memory, wasn't I? To the point where I can simply pray for your happiness." She thought. She was on a train, visualizing a boy in a raincoat, his head bowed. I wonder who he is. I wonder who I was talking about.

Shinohara sat down on the mountaintop, and let her thoughts take over.

Yuzuru was in Kanade's room. The last time he'd been here, he had given Haru wings. The time before that, he was sneaking in here with the rest of the SSS. It seemed like this was the room that always made a lasting impact. Regardless, he turned on the computer and opened the Angel Player, the program famous for modifying reality. He looked through the old guard skills Kanade had put into the computer, the hand sonics, distortion, harmonics, all that, and went to create a new one. He needed a tracking guard skill, but he had no idea how to program one. After sitting at the computer for a long while, he starting writing down ideas on a piece of paper that he found.

Locator for specific people

Heat signature detector

DNA encoder? Wtf?

Nose enhancements?

At this point, Yuzuru was just confused by what he was writing down. He flipped the paper over to put his head down, but saw a picture on the other side. On the paper, was him… how did Kanade have this drawing of him? She must have drawn this herself. He felt himself sinking into the hole into his chest, and felt his tears again. He sat there and cried at the picture of himself drawn by his lover. He eventually picked himself up and reminded himself of his goal. Find Shinohara, make sure Takaki doesn't go through what I am, and leave to find Kanade.

Yuzuru quickly input a heartbeat detector into the program.

"All right. Let's do this." Yuzuru said. "Guard Skill: Heartseeker."

Two hearts showed up immediately. One in the school, running about, and one looking near the river. Takaki and Arata, he deduced. He looked around and found the third. It was on the mountaintop? That was the one place Yuzuru had yet to explore, and the place where he heard Shiina was found, albeit underground. He stood up to go there and get there himself, but an evil thought entered his mind. He went towards the signature running across the school.

Yuzuru entered the building and calmly walked toward the signature looking through each and every classroom. He stopped him before he entered the classroom.

"What?" Takaki said in a hurry.

"I need you to go to the mountaintop," Yuzuru said.

"What? Why? I thought we were trying to find Akari!" Takaki yelled, out of breath.

"Just go," Yuzuru said, with the withering glare that the NPCs, even with their programming, would coil under. Sure enough, Takaki folded, and exited the school and started walking towards the mountain. He detected Arata's signature moving towards him and stopped him at the trash disposal.

"Yo," Yuzuru greeted.

"Hey, I'm going to go check on Takaki, he was going to the mountain," Arata said, turning back to the mountain, only to be stopped by Yuzuru.

"I told him to. Akari's up there and I think this might work towards bringing them together," Yuzuru stated calmly.

"Then why don't we come along to watch?" Arata suggested.

"That's actually not too bad of an idea," Yuzuru replied. Let's see how if the lovebird's take flight.

Takaki trekked up the treacherous slopes. Why does Yuzuru need me to go here… Shouldn't I be looking for Akari? Whatever. Yuzuru's weird, but he's still my council president. I gotta listen to him, or he's going to frickin destroy me. He passed a tree, which looked like it had been beaten down, with clear knuckle marks and dents on its trunk. What happened here? Takaki thought absentmindedly. He kept ascending the mountain, avoiding the tunnels cautiously. I can't die, but I will get reset to the school infirmary, he thought. He looked up, he had a long way to go.

It had been 3 days, and Takaki was nearing the summit. The mountain was quiet and devoid of life, but that was to be expected because according to Yuzuru, animals didn't come to this afterlife. He reached stopped at the waterfall, to drink some water. He looked back and saw the school, slightly covered by the trees. I wonder what the view would be at the top. Takaki looked down towards where the river would lead, and he could've sworn he saw something orange moving in his peripherals. He paid little mind to what he probably thought he saw and went back to climbing to the summit. He was near the top, and it was in sight. He stepped out of the line of trees he was in, and was met with a clearing at the top. And across the clearing, sat Akari, sitting on a rock, looking up at the night sky. Sneaky Otonashi. Keeping me in the dark. He smiled.

"So this is where you've been hiding," he said playfully as he approached her. She jumped and looked over to him, a blush present on her face. He sat down next to her and looked at the sky. "Trust you to find the most beautiful view in this world."

Takaki marveled at the view. It was amazing. From his view atop the highest point in this world, he saw all the world had. The dwindling lights of the school that now seemed too far away. The rows of cherry blossoms still falling beneath the night sky. The river sparkled with reflected moonlight. The moon and the stars above creating a dazzling light show that he couldn't stop himself from admiring. He looked at the moon. Arigatou, Tsukuyomi. I could still find love in death.

Akari was silent, and when she thought about the situation, and how close he was, her blush visibly darkened. Takaki just enjoyed the view. She looked at him. He was dirty, and it seemed like he had climbed up the mountain in haste. His face was still, relatively clean, and as handsome as she remembered. He noticed her gaze and looked at her. Their eyes met, and they both blushed after looking away quickly.

"So, how did you find me," Akari finally spoke.

"Yuzuru gave me one of his famous glares and told me to go here," Takaki joked, trying to start a conversation. This failed, and both of them fell into silence again. Takaki grasped at straws, his heart pulling painfully. He could feel their time together dwindling as they gazed at the night sky. This could be your only chance, Takaki. He thought. "Akari, I-"

Takaki paused, it seemed like his mind couldn't come up with something to say. He grasped at possible openers and could feel himself shooting them all down. He felt a small rock strike the upper portion of his back, and looked behind him. He spotted Arata and Yuzuru tucked between the gaps in the trees, giving him the thumbs up. He felt a twist of anger at being set up, flashing an angered look at them that didn't quite reach his eyes. Takaki mentally thanked them for this. It was as if their presence calmed him. Yuzuru's calm and accepting eyes, or Arata's with their mischievous glint that could still find a look of earnest happiness for both of them.

"Akari. I've wanted to tell you this for a long time. Ever since I came here, I've been curious about you. You've been on my mind constantly, and I've wanted to be by your side every day, just like this," Takaki said. Akari's eyes widened no, this can't be happening, am I dreaming? "Because I love you. I want to stay with you, and I hope every day can have as beautiful a view as the one we see now."

Akari couldn't speak. She couldn't. She brought her lips to his, and they kissed under the moonlight. As their lips met, both of their memories crashed in.

Last night, I had a dream. A dream of long ago. Within the dream, the two of us were still thirteen… standing upon the vast field blanketed in snow as far as the eye could see. In the distance, the lights shimmering in houses were set sparsely far and wide. All that was left upon the newly fallen snow were our footprints. Just like that… we wished, without hesitation, that one day… the two of us would be able… to see the cherry blossoms together again. They both gasped. Akari and Takaki looked at each other. Tears began to streak down their faces as they're couldn't completely comprehend their memories which battered their resolve.

"I finally found you," Takaki said. His tears found him again. Both of them cried and embraced each other.

"I'm sorry I moved on, it was a mistake," Akari said.

"I'm sorry I broke my promise to write," Takaki said, stroking her hair, "I'm sorry I moved on too, I should've waited for you. It was truly selfish of me."

"No, don't put yourself down so much. I'm happy you could find someone to love. Even if it wasn't me" Akari said. Every word she said seemed to hurt her more than the last.

"But it is you now. And I couldn't be happier," Akari's heart soared, and the two intertwined, and together, the two disappeared.

Yuzuru and Arata were following Takaki through the mountain. Yuzuru used Heartseeker to tell them that Takaki was closing in. He took a slight detour around so they could eavesdrop on the two. He spotted Takaki sitting down, and Akari jumping. He chuckled slightly, and he could feel Arata shaking next to him. He could sense that Takaki needed some help, so he threw a small rock towards him, and he and Arata give him a thumbs up. Takaki glared at them thankfully, which was somehow possible, and they saw the couple close in, and disappear. He and Arata stepped out of the trees.

"They left without even saying goodbye," Arata joked. Yuzuru passed him and marked the two rocks they were on when they left with chalk. Arata was confused, but could generally understand the idea.

"Well, we've succeeded. You go ahead, I'll be right behind you," Yuzuru said. Arata finally dropped his facade, bowed his head and let his tears run. He fell to his knees, and curled up, sobbing. Yuzuru knelt and placed his hand on Arata's shaking shoulders. Arata looked up at him, and with his tearful eyes, thanked Yuzuru, before moving on, leaving Yuzuru alone in the purgatory world again. He took out his phone, took a picture of the night sky, and under the SSS's website, uploaded his final post, the phone reading: A final farewell from Yuzuru Otonashi. And he was gone.


End file.
